From 17 to almost 25

[Matthew182]

I have already introduced myself http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=49678 . I have been trying to eat a more RAW diet rather than a mix of cooked veggies. There aren't that many changes I've made really because I've been eating very healthy CR diet since I was 18 years old. However with a combination of RAW CR and using basic skin care, sun avoidance.... the result is the last picture which I'm 24 years 8 months old in. This is after 6 months going raw. One of the obvious things to me was my skin felt smooth and more hydrated. I've also shared other benefits http://matts-cr.blogspot.com/2009/06/6-months-raw.html

Anywhere hers the comparison shots. Sorry about the quality of the lower ones, it's because I had an old webcam before I got the digital camera recently.

From age 17 to almost 25 comparison shots.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/whoa182/agecomparisonshots.jpg

Hope everyone here is enjoying great health :)

[somelikeitraw]

Holy Moly! You look even younger in your 24 yr 8 mo shot! Your eyes look so much more inviting as well. Calmer somehow. Imagine how you will look years from now when your SAD peers are all aging and you still look vibrant and have energy!

CONGRATULATIONS!

[RawHeaven]

you looked 25 when you were 17.

and now that you're 24, you look like you're 15 at best!

be careful now....you don't want to go below 10. :p

you're an inspiration! thank you for sharing Matthew.

[freshlight]

just what raw heaven said and:

Amazing!! Keep up the good work

[iwuvmydoggy]

lol that is so awesome! thank you for the inspiration!!!

you look younger than my 15 year old cousin!!! (EXTREME SAD eater... nothing but bread, ranch dressing, cheese, noodles & meat - claims that "vegetables" make him sick)

[Colorawdo girl]

The power of lviing food...here is the proof..oh my. Congrats!!! Growing younger...I am all up for that too.

[katacykls]

wow you do look a lot younger and more approachable softer more graceful eyes

[notwell]

you are cute. :)

[jurence]

SEXY (sorry if you are a homophobe! :P). you look great!

[Snownoir]

Wow, you went all Benjamin Button.

=]

[Random]

You really do look younger now than you did as a teenager! Cool photo montage.

(I'd love to see a shot of you smiling, though!)

[lil fairy z girl]

wow, you look way yonger now than before. impressed!

sal
~*~*~*

[sport]

Matthew.
Is there anywhere that you write a daily report on your actual food consumption.

[Veganforlife]

HAHAHA! Benjamin Button - that's good, but yeah dude! You look more gentle now. You looked angry before...

Keep it up!

[Matthew182]

Thanks for the comments everyone, I do track my nutrition using CRON O METER, which is a free program and helps me make sure that I get 100% of vitamins, minerals, all my fats and amino acids that I need to stay healthy, and of course the calories I consume. I'll post this soon on my blog http://www.matts-cr.blogspot.com . I usually only share my food intake a few times a year because I don't really change much of what i eat. I enjoy the food I eat so much that there is no need to.

[rawfoods]

You sure you got your pictures in the right order? :)
The younger pics of you look like you're way older! Wow keep eating like this and by the time you're 40 you'll still look 17

[trinity082482]

wow Matt! :eek:

[kitlynne]

I definitely agree with the other girls. =D You look fantastic.

[starck]

woow

you went form 25 to 17 ;)

[Matthew182]

I drink a lot of green tea, around 10 cups a day. I call it my "fountain of youth in a cup" :p and have been drinking green tea since 2005 knowing that it's effective at preventing sun damage, reducing enzymes that break down collagen and elastin. What I didn't know was white tea seems to be better! Now I'm going to definitely add white tea as well.

White Tea Could Keep You Healthy And Looking Young
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/...90810085312.htm

ScienceDaily (Aug. 14, 2009) — Next time you’re making a cuppa, new research shows it might be wise to opt for a white tea if you want to reduce your risk of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or even just age-associated wrinkles. Researchers from Kingston University teamed up with Neal’s Yard Remedies to test the health properties of 21 plant and herb extracts. They discovered all of the plants tested had some potential benefits, but were intrigued to find white tea considerably outperformed all of them.

Professor Declan Naughton, from the School of Life Sciences at Kingston University in South West London, said the research showed white tea had anti-ageing potential and high levels of anti-oxidants which could prevent cancer and heart disease. “We’ve carried out tests to identify plant extracts that protected the structural proteins of the skin, specifically elastin and collagen,” he explained. “Elastin supports the body’s natural elasticity which helps lungs, arteries, ligaments and skin to function. It also helps body tissue to repair when you suffer wounds and stops skin from sagging.” Collagen is a protein found in connective tissues in the body and is important for skin, strength and elasticity, he added.

Results showed white tea prevented the activities of the enzymes which breakdown elastin and collagen which can lead to wrinkles that accompany ageing. These enzymes, along with oxidants, are associated with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Professor Naughton said: “These enzymes and oxidants are key components of normal body processes. However, in inflammatory conditions, suppressing the activities of these excess components has been the subject of decades of research. We were surprised to find such high activity for the white tea extracts in all five tests that were conducted.”

The researchers were blown away by exactly how well the white tea had performed. “We were testing very small amounts far less than you would find in a drink,” Professor Naughton, one of the country’s leading specialists on inflammation, said. “The early indicators are that white tea reduces the risk of inflammation which is characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis and some cancers as well as wrinkles.”

Eight of the other plants and herbs analysed also helped protect against the breakdown of both elastin and collagen. After white tea, bladderwrack performed well followed by extracts of cleavers, rose, green tea, angelica, anise and pomegranate.

Dr Pauline Hili, Technical Director for Neal’s Yard Remedies, said: “We are really excited by this research as it helps us to remain innovative and at the cutting edge of natural skin care. Celebrating the plants used in the Neal’s Yard Remedies products and understanding their specific actions on the skin is what it is all about. The Kingston University research program helps us to create safe, highly effective and cutting-edge products so it’s an ideal partnership for us.”

Journal reference:

1. Tamsyn SA Thring, Pauline Hili, Declan P Naughton. Anti-collagenase, anti-elastase and anti-oxidant activities of extracts from 21 plants. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2009, 9:27 (4 August 2009) [link]


FULL PAPER HERE http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6882-9-27.pdf

[sport]

Matthew
Have you found a good source of white tea. Do you get it on-line.

[Matthew182]

Not yet, I'm going to have to look at the quality of them, I've never really looked at the brands of white tea before. Will try look and post here shortly.

[Spirited]

HAHA. This is too funny.

You look like a totally different person. That's awesome.

[lunabear]

Be honest now. Did your eyes change COLORS? Maybe it's the lighting, but I swear they look more blue in your recent photos.

[misslinda]

Wonderful. I agree with some of the other posts....at 17 you looked more in you twenties vice versa....

[Green_Woman]

Agreed. You are aging backwards!! Incredible... and awesome to meet another 24 year-old Rawbie. :D

[rawmiss]

I love the way your eyes go from being dull and trired at 17 to being alive at 24! :) BTW there's karma in animal testing, when trying to prove a point, I try to avoid mentioning it.

[paleocron]

Hola Matt!

Funny how I keep running into you on this world wide web. I suppose it goes to show we have similar goals. Lol.

My husband and I are transitioning to a raw diet, and I have been lurking here for a couple of weeks for ideas.

Anywho, just wanted to say hello....

Toodles,

S.i.e

[sport]

Paleocron.
Are you transitioning from CR to raw. I am hoping to do that as well and am reading some CR books but it is hard to get info for raw foodists and even for vegans. There is not much on the web either. They all want us eating chicken and such things.
Welcome to the board.

[Tsurugi_Oni]

Woah, Paleocron, what are you doing on these forums? What a coincidence, I've never been on the (Raw Before and Afters) forum, and RARELY (once a month?) go on the RawPaleo one. I was readin ur blog yesterday, and noticed the picture is the same as on this post. Anywho lol.

Are you going from paleo -> raw vegan?

*side note*

Can anyone point me to some very good calorie restriction resources? Ima brew a cup of tea and get the readin (btw, TeaVana is a premium, but $$$$$$, source of premium teas. I highly recommend them).

[Katie P]

You look UH-MAZING :) Totally diggin' the hair too!

[Matthew182]

hi there xD haha. I totally forgot about this thread for so long! I haven't really blogged much lately either. Thanks for all the comments again.

Hey I have some new pictures now on my blog :-)
http://www.matts-cr.blogspot.com/

WIll do any update here, i changed quite a few things since I last posted!

[Aleesha Sattva]

Alissa's philosophy is not about calorie restriction. Any posts or threads regarding this will be deleted.

Thanks,
Aleesha
Moderator

[Amii]

Awww you look awesome!! Is it just me or do your eyes become about 10 times more blue as the years pass?

[Matthew182]

I'm using something called SkinCeuticals CE ferulic acid. It's so good and is clearing some acne marks I had, although slowly. Raw food will keep you looking young, just don't ruin your skin with too much sun. We only need 15-30 minutes to produce vitamin D for average person. I wish more raw foodists would protect their skin :-)

[sport]

I think that when you get older you may need more sun as I find that I want more of it and there must be a reason for that.
There is a reason for everything.

[Matthew182]

Sure we DO need vitamin D from the sun, also exposure to 'sunlight' but no need for direct sunlight. We all know of that good feeling you get from being in the sun, it really just lifts your mood. I think that excessive sun exposure is the problem, learn to moderate and you can feel good, and get what you need without any significant damage. The reason older people need more sun to get the vitamin D is because the ability to convert to the active metabolites 1,25-hydroxy D is impaired. So in this case, supplementing either Vitamin D2 or pref Vitamin D3 is important to maintain sufficient levels...

:-)

[Matthew182]

wow I love the skin ceuticals CE F product, i'm still using it :D though a lot faint hyperpigmentation to still get rid of.

[jeanlee411]

lol that is so awesome! thank you for the inspiration!!!

you look younger than my 15 year old cousin!!! (EXTREME SAD eater... nothing but bread, ranch dressing, cheese, noodles & meat - claims that "vegetab

[Matthew182]

26 Years old in October

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs214.snc4/39028_475621633153_635673153_6537337_2324682_n.jpg

hahaha =D

I had a funny experience the other day at a party. A women said to my mum, i didn't know that you had a younger son. My mum was like, i don't have a younger son!... the women thought i was 17 xD and so many other people. and they wanted to know my secrets... hahha

[Shels]

Wow, amazing.
Things like this make me excited about getting older. x) You look fantastic.

[strange_r]

You look much younger! That's amazing! My congratulations! :)

[bing]

Wow... very inspiring. Just hope that the youngest look that you can have is 15.:p

Kidding aside, part of my mind is saying that "this can not be true" but how can I deny this fact?

I wish I can have that result also. Being a tall lady and not having a friendly face makes me look older than my age.:eek: I'm now 25 and just started raw last week. I'll take a photo after this post.. :) And I'll be back after 5 years..

[Matthew182]

just an update. I've been doing CR now for 9 years or something. I am not completely raw; I eat some cooked food (tomatoes, sweet potatoes and mixed veg). I supplement a lot, and take care of my skin.

27 years and 4 months old here

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/425159_10150776194598154_635673153_12243740_149224 5547_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/417191_10150776194728154_635673153_12243743_143112 0251_n.jpg

anyway I just wanted to give some inspiration to those who are starting young. To stay young and beautiful for longer.:)

[stevesmith]

Hi,
Great.. Really like this post

[Karrots]

You are getting younger!

[lovelyjewellz]

You look absolutely amazing!!! I can't believe how young and radiant you look compared to your 17 year old photo! Way to go man, you are such an inspiration!!! :D

[Matthew182]

Thank everyone! :) I'm still on the diet of course. I'm still fairly young but hopefully I can show people that you don't have go downhill from age 25 lol. Just protect your skin and eat well! Rather than constantly updating the comparison pictures I just periodically update a photo album here if anyone is ever interested in checking out the progress. I'm not plugging a product here anything! lol Just sharing my experience and progress. ;p I just turned 28 in October too. :)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.255440573153.179633.635673153&type=1

28 years +
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/whoa182/01.png